


What's Your Life Worth?

by bracus09



Category: SEAL Team (TV)
Genre: Blood and Injury, Brotherhood, Gen, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-22
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:20:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21892801
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bracus09/pseuds/bracus09
Summary: When one of the team gets injured, will another give up their life to save him?
Comments: 20
Kudos: 156





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is my first ever fic. Let me know if you like it!
> 
> Big thanks to RayByAnotherName for giving me encouragement and for being my beta for this story.
> 
> Enjoy!

“So, Poster Boy, which way?” Sonny asked, breathing heavy as he carried the aid worker that was held hostage and then rescued on the way to exfil over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry.

They’d gone into Syria to rescue an aid worker that was taken by extremists. The worker was part of a group that was helping Syrian refugees on their journey to Europe to flee the worn-torn country.

Clay stopped and looked down both alleyways at the "T" between buildings. He was sure it was the left alley way, but with tangos popping up everywhere in the labyrinth of a village, it was making it difficult to remember which turns he needed to make. He thought back to when he was on over-watch and the route that was plotted in his mind. 

“I don’t remember these buildings on the ISR photo that Davis showed us,” Clay remarked.

“I knew I should have taken Brock with me,” Sonny chided. “He has Cerberus and he could lead us out of here.”

“Not my fault that I don’t have the sense of smell like a dog.” Clay replied and grinned. “This way,” he finally decided, point to the left.

Sonny shook his head and adjusted his grip on the aid worker. He followed Clay down the alley, hoping they were heading in the right direction. They finally came to a clearing at the end of all the alley passageways. On the other side of that clearing poking their heads out of that alley way, was Jason and Ray, taking down tangos so that the path was clear.

Clay keyed his mic as he entered the clearing, “Bravo 1 and 2. Don’t fire to the east.”

Jason and Ray spared them the shortest of glances before continuing to fire on the enemy. Sonny continued into the clearing after Clay, when suddenly they both heard Ray yell, “RPG!”

Clay and Sonny both ducked in time to see it hit the building beside them, sending them flying across the clearing and raining glass and debris down and around them. When Clay was thrown across the clearing, he hit the corner of another building and landed on his back. Sonny rolled his body so that he was protecting the aid worker in his arms, but that left him exposed to flying debris.

“Clay! Sonny!” Jason and Ray yelled as they cleared the area and ran to their fallen comrades. Ray ran to check on Clay while Jason ran to check on Sonny and the aid worker. As much as Jason wanted to check on Sonny, the mission objective came first, so he went to the aid worker first while yelling at Sonny to respond.

Clay rolled onto his stomach and groaned aloud when Ray reached him.

“Clay? You okay?” He asked.

Clay was about to say “no” as the pain in his chest and back flared, but then he glimpsed Sonny’s unmoving form ten feet away with Jason.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he managed through gritted teeth, allowing Ray to help him up. “Sonny?” he called, determinedly making his way to his teammate. “Sonny?” he called again, kneeling down next to him while Jason checked the unconscious aid worker.

Clay shouldered his rifle, sucking in a breath at the stabbing pain the action caused. He and Ray moved Sonny’s rifle and carefully turned him over.

“Jesus,” Clay whispered, seeing the dark venous blood oozing from Sonny’s throat.

Clay did the first thing he could think of. He put his fingers into the wound and put them over the lacerated jugular vein, slowing the blood flow.

“Jason, we need Trent!” Clay said quickly.

Jason looked over from the still unconscious aid worker, who looked no worse for wear from the explosion. Jason took in Sonny’s injuries as Clay held tight to the vein. He knew that if Clay let go, Sonny would bleed to death within minutes. Sonny was covered with glass and debris, while a few other places that wasn’t covered by his tactical gear and helmet were bleeding. “Bravo 4, we need you ASAP.” He spoke into the comms.

Trent came running into the clearing from the side Jason and Ray were stationed on with Brock with Cerberus a few steps behind. He came and knelt opposite of Clay. He grabbed Sonny’s wrist to check the pulse and was reaching for his pen light at the same time to check pupil responses. Brock kept his rifle up, scanning for any tangos that may decide to sneak up on the team while they were taking care of the wounded. Cerb was also on alert, knowing part of her pack was hurt.

Trent looked quickly at Sonny, making his own assessment, then quickly looked at Clay. Clay was pale and sweating profusely.

“You okay, Clay?” Trent asked.

“I’m fine, Trent. Just take care of Sonny,” Clay answered flatly. “Pretty sure his jugular’s cut. I’m holding pressure on it.”

“Okay. Pulse and respiration are fast, pupils are reactive but sluggish,” Trent responded with. He thought about pressing Clay about his condition but decided against it; chalking it up to distress over Sonny’s condition.

Clay started to talk to Sonny, encouraging him to wake up. Telling him that he would be fine. Telling him that he would take good care of him. It helped him forget that he was literally holding Sonny’s life in his hand. It also made him forget his own pain. He vaguely thought he heard Trent call into Havoc over comms. 

“Havoc, this is Bravo 4,” Trent called in.

“Bravo 4, go ahead.” Blackburn replied.

“Bravo 3 and 6 were in an explosion from an RPG. Bravo 3 is bleeding profusely from the left jugular vein. Bravo 6 is currently applying direct pressure to the wound and is continuing to hold it. From the look of it, Bravo 3 also has a head injury and possible broken right forearm.” He continued.

“What is the status of Bravo 6?” Blackburn replied.

“Bravo 6 looks stable.” Trent replied.

Before Blackburn replied, Davis spoke up, “ISR is showing enemy combatants are closing in on your position. You need to get to the LZ and on exfil ASAP.”

Jason turned to Trent, “Can we get him up and moving?”

Trent in turn, turned to Clay. “Can you keep pressure on the vein while we move?”

“Yes.” Clay answered shortly.

“Okay, Jason and I will carry Sonny between us while you follow behind and hold the vein.” Trent explained.

“Ray carry the aid worker. Brock run point with Cerb. She can hopefully be our early warning system. We are close to the LZ for the helo. Let’s get to exfil.” Jason directed, and soon everyone was following is orders.

Clay used his free hand to help hold Sonny’s head as Jason and Trent were getting ready lift Sonny and place his arms over their shoulders. As Trent started to count for the lift, Clay took a few quick breaths, squeezed his eyes shut and clenched his teeth as he pushed himself off the ground to rise with Sonny and continue to hold pressure. He continued to focus on his task, never letting go of Sonny’s wound.

Once everyone was up, Brock started up into the next alley, with Cerb pulling on her lead, and they continued to exfil. It seemed like lady luck was with them as they met little resistance the rest of the way to the helo.

As they approached, Clay took another deep breath and got into the helo first so that Trent and Jason could slide Sonny in without losing pressure on the vein. Everyone else filed in, but Clay was focused on his only job. Holding his friend’s life in his hand. Ray handed the aid worker to Jason and climbed in himself. Brock and Cerb were the last ones on.

Once the helo lifted from the ground, Trent got busy. “Havoc, this is Bravo 4. Relay Bravo 3’s medical status to the medical team on standby. His BP is 80 over 60, pulse is 110 and respirations are 20. I’m starting an IV and placing him on oxygen for the ride back to base. Bravo 6 is continuing to hold the vein. Recommend a vascular surgeon be ready for when we get there.”

“Copy Bravo 4. Medical team will be advised of Bravo 3’s status and we will have a vascular surgeon on standby for your arrival.” Blackburn replied.

Blackburn turned to Davis, but she was already on the phone updating the medical team on the status of Bravo 3 and getting everything in place.

In Clay’s mind, the ride back to the base seemed to take forever. He listened to Trent’s updates to Havoc, answered direct questions about Sonny when Trent asked him, but otherwise, concentrated only on holding onto the vein. His arm was beginning to ache. He’d been holding it in the same position for nearly a half hour now. And his chest and back pain only increased now as the helo seemed to bump and jostle in the air. Trent heard Clay gasp, sucking in a breath. He looked up to see Clay’s eyes shut tight.

“Clay? You okay?” he asked. “Clay?” he called when he got no response.

“My arm is cramping,” Clay finally replied, lying.

“We’re almost there,” Trent offered.

***

Blackburn, Davis and the medical team were waiting next to the helicopter pad that was closest to the base infirmary. When the helo came into view, the medical team prepared for when they could approach the chopper.

Once the chopper landed, there was an explosion of activity. The medical teams raced two gurneys up to the chopper. One for Sonny and one for the aid worker. Ray gently set the aid worker down on the first gurney and that medical team raced off to evaluate her. The second gurney rolled up to the chopper while Trent guided Clay out of the chopper alongside of the gurney, along with Jason and Brock to get Sonny on the gurney and into the nearby infirmary for treatment.

Davis let out a small gasp as Sonny was rolled passed; his face covered by the oxygen mask and his neck covered with bandages and Clay’s hands.

Jason, Ray, Brock and Cerb were left standing on the helo pad with their gear in their hands as they watched Trent, Clay and Sonny disappear through the infirmary doors.

Trent, Clay and the medical team surrounding Sonny squeezed through the door opening and the brakes for the gurney were locked. Everyone was carefully maneuvering around the gurney and Clay while more IVs, oxygen bottles switched, and Sonny was being hooked up to monitors and cut out of his cloths. Clay stood there, now totally oblivious to everything around him. His breaths were short and shallow, and he was pale and drenched with sweat as he tried to block out his own pain and not lose his grip on the vein.

“Just a few minutes, and we’ll have that clamped up. I’m sure your hand must be getting tired,” the on-call doctor said as he was checking the wounds to Sonny’s neck.

When Clay didn’t reply, the doctor looked up and then looked at Trent. 

Trent looked back at him and shrugged, “He hasn’t said a word for the past ten minutes. Can’t say as I blame him.”

Before the doctor could reply, another doctor came rushing into the room. Trent could only guess that it was the vascular surgeon that he had requested.

“What do you have Mark?” he asked the other doctor, approaching the gurney.

“Jugular’s been nicked, John. He’s been holding it for about forty-five minutes now.” The doctor informed the new arrival.

John took a closer look. “How’s his BP?” he asked.

A nurse spoke up, “BP’s up. Holding at 100 over 70.”

“Okay, let’s get it clamped up and cleaned and we’ll get him up to the OR,” he replied, reaching for some gloves.

Trent stood off to the side, watching as the nurse got a tray out and started handing the doctor some instruments. He carefully maneuvered around Clay’s fingers, placing claps on either side of the cut Clay was holding.

“Okay, young man,” the doctor began. “I think you can let go now,” he finished.

The doctor waited a minute. When Clay didn’t move, he repeated his request. “I said you can let go now,” he said looking up.

“Clay?” Trent called, concern in his voice. “Clay? It’s alright, you can let go now,” he said. He moved from his position next to the wall to stand next to Clay and moving his hands to Clay’s. “It’s alright,” he soothed as he manipulated Clay’s fingers and released their hold on Sonny’s jugular vein.

Another nurse grabbed Clay’s shoulders and between the two, and guided Clay away from the gurney and towards the door.

“It’s okay, Clay. They’re gonna take good care of him,” Trent said as he brought Clay out into the hallway, leaving the nurse to return to Sonny.

Trent was starting to get worried about Clay. He knew Clay and Sonny were close, even if they both denied it, and of course Clay had every right to be worried about Sonny, but he was beginning to think Clay was in worse shape that Sonny was. He no sooner finished that though when Clay let out a pained groan and collapsed.

“I need help down here!” Trent called out to a nurse down the hall as he eased Clay to the floor.

The nurse came running down the hall quickly and kneeled next to the two.

“He’s having trouble breathing,” Trent said. “His trachea’s deviated, I think his lung collapsed.”

Another doctor had heard the commotion and approached the three people down the hallway. Overhearing Trent’s assessment and seeing Clay gasping for breath.

“Alright, let’s get him into a treatment room,” he said, helping them to lift and then carry Clay down the hallway.

They deposited Clay’s writhing form onto the gurney in the treatment room, and they are immediately joined by another nurse. One nurse started getting an oxygen mask set up, hoping it would help ease Clay’s breathing. The other nurse was cutting off Clay’s tactical gear while the doctor was questioning Trent on what had happened.

“He and another teammate were on the edge of a RPG explosion when it hit a building. I thought he was okay when I had arrived on the scene, as he was already holding pressure on the teammate’s jugular vein.” Trent explained to the new doctor. “I guess he got hurt too.”

“Doctor,” the nurse cutting Clay’s clothes off got their attention as she removed Clay’s shirt.

The doctor and Trent looked at Clay’s chest. The entire left side was bruised, and it was obvious that a few ribs were more than likely broken.

“Nurse, we need some more people in here. I’m going to need help with the chest tube,” the doctor ordered, his face grim.

The nurse quickly left the room as the other nurse started taking vitals.

“BP’s 70 over 50, pulse is 120.” She announced.

“Nurse let’s get bilateral IV’s set up,” the doctor ordered. “What’s his name?” he asked Trent.

“Clay.” Trent responded, wondering how everything went downhill so fast.

“Clay? Clay?” the doctor tried. He got no response, other than a pained look from Clay as he continued his struggle to breathe. The nurse entered with the nurse and doctor that were treating Sonny as the doctor treating Clay retrieved the chest tube kit from one of the cabinets. Trent could only hope this meant that they were already wheeling Sonny up to surgery. Both immediately jumped in to assist the doctor with the chest tube, the nurse that never left cleaning off the side of Clay’s chest with antiseptic.

“Okay Clay, just take it easy,” the doctor started. “It’s gonna hurt like hell, but you’ll be able to breathe,” he finished, nodding to the nurses and to Trent.

Trent knew what was going to happen and held on to his shoulders, trying to get eye contact with Clay. The two nurses each grabbed a leg and held them to the gurney. They needed to try to keep him from moving as the doctor made the incision between the first and second intercostal space between Clay’s ribs. Clay let out a breathy scream as he tested everyone’s strength to keep him immobilized to the bed.

“Easy, Clay,” Trent soothed, still trying to maintain eye contact. “Almost done.”

“Respiratory arrest!” One of the nurses announced.

One doctor handed the other doctor the chest tube. The doctor deftly inserted it and soon the pressure was equalized, easing Clay’s pain. He secured the tube with a few sutures, watching as blood and air drained from it. He looked up and saw the other doctor inserting an endotracheal tube down Clay’s throat.

“I want a full set of x-rays of his chest,” the doctor ordered, wiping sweat from his brown. “And let’s check for other injuries as well,” he added, sighing, watching as the ventilator was hooked up.

***

Jason, Ray and Brock filed into the waiting room after they stowed their gear. No one bothered with a shower as they wanted to get the news as soon as possible. Ray sat in a chair with his head bowed, more than likely in prayer, Brock sat on the floor with his knees pulled to his chest so he could rest his head on them, and Jason paced like a caged lion.

Blackburn had given them some space, but now he needed some answers. He entered the waiting room looking at three of his men while waiting for Trent, Clay and the doctor to come out and tell him about Sonny. Davis and Mandy were following behind because they wanted to know the status of Bravo 3 too.

“What the hell happened?” Blackburn asked.

“I don’t know.” Jason began, running a hand through his hair. “Clay and Sonny were running through the clearing with the aid worker and then Ray spotted the RPG, so they ducked, and it hit the building behind them. We made sure there are no more tangos and then went to check on them.”

Ray picked up from there. “I was checking Clay while Jason was checking Sonny and the aid worker. He said he was fine, and Clay went to Sonny, noticed he was bleeding at his neck and then he was holding his jugular. Sonny was covered with glass, debris and blood.”

Brock didn’t say anything, but just nodded his head with both his teammates’ description of events.

Blackburn just sat in a chair next to Ray, ran a hand over his head and then scrubbed his beard. The girls also sat down, waiting for Trent and Clay to come out and give them the news on Sonny.

Trent exited the doors, followed by the doctor that had worked on both Sonny initial and then Clay when he had collapsed in the hallway.

Jason was quick to notice that Clay hadn’t followed. “Where’s Clay?” He asked sharply.

Trent just sighed and sat in the last available chair in the small waiting room. The doctor decided to speak up for the obviously exhausted medic that was slumping in the chair he sat in.

“Petty Officer Quinn is heading up to surgery as we speak. Dr. John Altmann is our best vascular surgeon on base, so he should be on the mend soon. He also has a fracture to his right forearm that will more than likely just need a cast for about six weeks. We will have ortho look at the x-rays during the surgery.” The doctor explained.

A sigh of relief went through everyone but Trent. Trent just relaxed his head back, so it was resting against the wall as the doctor continued. “Petty Officer Spenser had a hemopneumothorax from his rib fractures sustained during the blast.”

“WHAT?!” Came the exclamation from Ray and Jason. Jason turned to face the doctor while Ray popped out of his seat to come to stand next to him.

The explanation didn’t come from the doctor, but from Trent. “I asked Clay if he was okay. A couple of times even, but he kept saying, ‘I’m fine, take care of Sonny.’ I figured he was worried about Sonny. I mean how often do you literally hold your teammates’, your best friends’ life in your hand?” 

This silenced the gathered men and women and the doctor continued. “It looks like he has rib fractures that are close to the spine. Two of the fractures became displaced and lacerated his left lung causing it to collapse. We have inserted a chest tube and he is also on his way to surgery to fix the laceration and reduce his ribs.”

The silence weighed heavily on the waiting room as they took in the news of their youngest team member.

“He must have been in pain the entire time,” Brock said quietly from his position on the floor, wishing he could have Cerberus with him.

“He didn’t care,” Trent responded. “We all know Clay. He’d give his life for anyone of us, any day. Just like anyone of us would do for him.”

“Well, he may be pretty close to doing just that today,” Jason added grimly, and preceded to put a new dent in the waiting room wall.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here is the second half!
> 
> Enjoy!

Sonny woke up to an annoying beeping sound. He groaned and reached out to turn off his alarm clock, but his hand was met by another hand; one that squeezed it gently. He opened his eyes and saw Lisa smiling at him.

“Hi,” she said quietly.

He tried to say ‘hi’ back, but his voice wouldn’t cooperate.

“It’s okay, don’t talk,” she soothed. “They said your throat would be sore for a while from the tube,” she said.

Sonny looked confused. The last thing he remembered was running through the clearing with the aid worker over his shoulder.

“What happened?” he mouthed.

“There was an RPG explosion as you were crossing the clearing. You were hit with glass and debris from the building,” Lisa started, pausing as she remembered Jason calling in to tell Havoc what happened. “You got a concussion and broke your arm. And you, um, received lacerations to your neck,” she said slowly, absently touching her own neck.

Sonny reached up with his left hand that wasn’t in the cast and felt the bandages on the front of his neck. He could see tears start to glisten in her eyes and reached for her.

“Your jugular vein was cut,” she continued, a slight tremble in her voice. “Clay held onto it, stopping the bleeding. He held onto it for almost 45 minutes. Until the vascular surgeon clamped it off,” she said, wiping the lone tear that slid down her cheek.

Sonny relaxed. Before Lisa had continued to tell him about his injuries, he had been worried about Clay. He remembered Clay being in front of him in the clearing. He looked at Lisa and she wiped another tear away quickly. He squeezed her hand.

“I’m okay, now,” he rasped.

“I know,” she said, squeezing back. “But,” she started, took a deep breath and looked everywhere in the room but at Sonny. “Sonny,” she continued.

Sonny glanced to make sure none of the guys were around, then reached for her face, pulling her chin up. He questioned her with his eyes.

“Clay got hurt too,” she began. “He ignored his own injuries to save you. Now they don’t know if he’s going to make it or not.”

Sonny’s hand dropped, shock registering inside him.

***

Trent watched as the doctor pulled back the curtain partition and approached the bed that he was holding vigil at. The doctors checked the various monitors and charts, same as Trent has been doing since the last time someone came in and checked Clay.

“He’s giving us a run for our money, you know,” he said quietly to Trent.

Trent didn’t say anything as the doctor pulled down the blankets and checked the bandages for leakage, then he peeled them back. The doctor shook his head in wonderment.

“I don’t know how he did it. I don’t know who he even got up off the ground,” he said.

Trent’s eyes never left Clay’s bruised chest and fresh surgical scars as the doctor put on fresh bandages. The doctor listened to Clay’s chest carefully with his stethoscope and frowned.

This did bring a question out of Trent, “What’s wrong?”

“He is starting to develop rales. They are very light, but I will put in for him to start a different antibiotic to try to head this off at the pass.” The doctor explained as he made a notation and left the room.

As the doctor left the room, Jason entered and saw the look on Trent’s face. He raised his eyebrow in question, but Trent just ignored him in favor to talking to Clay. “Come on Clay don’t do this to us. We just got you patched up. Don’t go and blow it with pneumonia.”

This was enough explanation for Jason, who sat on the other side of Clay’s bed. They both sat in silence while a nurse came in and injected the antibiotics into Clay’s IV and left again.

Soon Ray popped his head in, “Sonny’s awake.”

“Good. I’ll peak my head in on him and Lisa,” Trent said as he left his chair for Ray and walked down the hall to Sonny’s room.

Trent approached just after he overheard Lisa telling Sonny about Clay’s condition. He entered and placed a hand on Lisa’s shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. Lisa looked up and smiled at Trent.

“How you feeling Sonny?” he asked.

“Apparently better than Goldilocks,” Sonny whispered sadly.

Trent smiled grimly and nodded.

“He’s in rough shape. He broke five ribs in the explosion. All the breaks were near his spine,” he started. “I spoke with Jason and Ray. Ray said he thought Clay might have hit the corner of the building. Two of the ribs wound up ripping his lung, which eventually collapsed,” he said.

“He must have been bleeding since it happened,” Sonny reasoned. He blamed the pain meds on his lack of sarcastic answers.

“They have had to operate twice to get it all stopped.” Trent added.

“How long?” Sonny asked.

“You’ve been back for two days,” Lisa said.

Trent glanced up as Brock came in to sit with Sonny and Lisa. “Look, I’m going to get back to Clay’s room. I’ll keep you up to date.”

Trent reached out and grabbed Sonny’s hand for a quick squeeze.

“Thanks,” Sonny whispered.

***

As Trent was walking back to Clay’s room, he saw Blackburn and Mandy in the hallway.

“How are they?” Blackburn asked.

“Sonny woke up a little while ago. He’s doing just fine,” Trent answered.

“That’s great,” replied Mandy.

“And Clay?” Blackburn asked tentatively.

“No change,” Trent replied, shaking his head.

Blackburn just bowed his head, but quickly whipped it up when he heard Trent slap his palm against the wall.

“I should have done something,” he said quietly.

“You didn’t know,” Mandy responded.

“I saw that he was hurting. Damnit! He was in shock! Pale, sweaty, breathing fast-“he replied.

“We all saw that Trent. We all thought the same as you – that he was upset about Sonny. Add to the fact that it was ninety degrees out and Clay was still in full tactical gear, he was probably suffering from some slight heat exhaustion as well.” Blackburn admonished.

“He told you he was fine. You had no reason not to believe him,” Mandy added.

There was no more time for second guessing, what was done was done. But Trent knew for sure, that when Clay survived this latest ordeal, he was having a lecture not only from him and Jason, but also from Ray, Sonny and Brock as well.

***

Sonny sat in the wheelchair next to the bed, quietly sitting. Listening to the gentle beeps of the heart monitor and the whooshing of the ventilator. He stopped himself from scratching at his neck. The sutures were driving him nuts. The only thing that itched worse was under the cast on his arm. But he couldn’t do anything about that. He had to consciously make the effort to NOT scratch his neck.

For the hundredth time that hour, he pondered life and how it had dealt him and Bravo team some wild cards. And how lucky he was to have been dealt Clay as his best friend. How many times had they risked their lives for each other? For their teammates? For their country. He didn’t think they’d ever become this close, though. Guilt was starting to enter Sonny’s thoughts. He knew it was irrational, but the thought that Clay would knowingly trade his life for Sonny’s astounded him. Did Clay think his life was worth more than his own?

“God, Clay. Why?” Sonny asked, already knowing the answer deep inside.

Sonny sensed movement and looked into the half-opened eyes regarding him. Sonny smiled, tears starting to form in his eyes.

“Welcome back, Ken Doll,” he said, taking Clay’s hand.

Clay tried to speak but found he couldn’t.

“You’re on a ventilator,” Sonny spoke uneasily. “You broke a bunch of ribs, punctured your lung,” he added.

Clay closed his eyes and nodded, trying not to fight the machine controlling his breaths. He slowly reached an arm up and pointed at Sonny’s neck.

“It’ll be fine. Obviously, I’m still here,” Sonny said. “Thanks to you,” he added quietly.

Clay saw the question in Sonny’s eyes, the one he’d heard upon waking. He cut his eyes from Sonny back to the doorway of his room and back. Sonny turned to look at who was standing in the doorway. Lisa gave them both a gentle smile. Sonny looked back at Clay, understanding fully now. Clay was asleep again, his body relaxed, no longer fighting the machine.

“Next time Peter Pan just have Trent hold the vein, okay?” he chided gently, as he placed Clay’s hand back under the covers.

**Author's Note:**

> Hoping to have the second half up before Christmas!


End file.
